Loving The Game. Pete Hines

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СКАЧАТЬ great teams were going to be on the court tonight – the Rens and the Original Celtics.

      The game was going to start at 7:30 p.m. and that gave them enough time to eat the daily special of corned beef sandwiches and fried potatoes. After downing their last beers and finishing their meals, they tipped Claire, headed out of O’Brien’s, and started walking toward the gym just a few blocks away.

      When they got outside the building, they could see the light that was coming from the gym windows. This was a solid building made of cement blocks. Posters plastered on the front door promoted both teams. When they entered, Jake and his cohorts stopped at the ticket booth. Tickets were normally 75 cents, but tonight they sold for a dollar – these were two great teams.

      A heavyset man stood under the open archway leading into the gym. He took their tickets and told everyone to keep moving inside. When they took their seats, they were looking down on the gym floor. The gym vibrated as fans yelled and screamed at the players. The Rens were in their element, executing difficult moves. It was hard to believe this skilled team had to leave right after games so the players wouldn’t get seriously injured.

      Most of the time food – and even dangerous items such as nails – was thrown at the players as they ran down the court. Chicken wire was used to protect players from the fans, but the wire didn’t keep out all the nails and metal bolts that were thrown. The wire did manage to keep the beer bottles from hitting the black players.

      Both teams were on the floor warming up. One thing about the Rens – they were fearless. Their main obstacle wasn’t the opponent, and they were respected for their basketball skills. It was generally the fans the Rens’ players had to worry about. After the games, police had to escort the Rens’ bus out of town. Most restaurants wouldn’t serve the team, so more often than not they ended up eating cold-cut sandwiches on the bus. Also, most hotels wouldn’t accommodate the black players, so many nights they also slept on the bus.

      Many of the Rens’ players were not even 6’ tall, but they made up for their lack of height with amazing shooting skills and blazing speed. Players for the Rens included 6’4’’ Charles “Tarzan” Cooper and 6’5” Wee Willie Smith. They controlled the inside for the Rens. Clarence “Fats” Jenkins at 5’7” ran the breaks for the team. Jenkins was considered to be the fastest man in basketball.

      Bill Yancey (5’10”) and Eyre “Bruiser” Saitch (5’11”) were the primary outside threats. John Holt (5’11”) and James “Pappy” Ricks (5’11”) were the reserves.

      The Celtics were composed of seasoned players with a rare combination of physical power and floor intelligence. The Celtics had as their inside players 6’5” Joe Lapchick, 5’8” Davey Banks, and 6’ Dutch Dehnert. At 5’11”, one of the guards was Nat Holman. At 5’10”, the other guard was Pete Barry. George Haggerty at 6’4” and John Beckman at 5’10” were the forwards. Chris Leonard at 6’ was their reserve. John Witty at 5’11” was coach and reserve player if needed.

      On the sidelines, the coaches were yelling last minute instructions. The players walked to the middle of the court for the tipoff. Centers Joe Lapchick for the Celtics and Charles Cooper for the Rens did the jumping.

      Cooper slapped the ball to Clarence Jenkins who broke down the court.

      Jenkins spotted Bill Yancey in the corner and passed the ball to him. Yancey did a little body fake to the left and then dribbled straight to the basket for a two-point layup.

      The players walked back to center court for the tipoff. Lapchick tipped the ball to Davey Banks who dribbled down the sideline. Banks passed to Dutch Dehnert who was set at the top of the key for his pivot play. He faked passing to John Beckman running off his left side and instead threw the ball to Nat Holman who was running off of his right side. Holman dribbled in for an easy layup.

      After the Rens got the tipoff, Yancey took a pass from Wee Willie Smith. Yancey squared off at the top of the key and hit a long two-handed set shot.

      The Celtics got the ensuring tipoff when Lapchick pushed the ball to George Haggerty. Cooper was closely guarding Haggerty as they crossed the center line. When Haggerty tried to pass to Banks, Eyre “Bruiser” Saitch intercepted the pass.

      The teams seemed to be evenly matched as they traded baskets up and down the court. Midway through the first half during one of his time-outs, Rens’ coach Robert Douglas told his players to start trapping with two defensive players.

      A man-to-man defense was utilized by all early teams. After Douglas’ time-out, the Celtics had the ball. Holman passed to Pete Barry who tried to dribble inside, but Jenkins stripped the ball. He threw an underhand pass down court to Smith who dribbled down the sideline, made a cut up the middle, and took the ball to the basket for a layup. The Celtics called a time-out.

      Excitement was building in the crowded gym. Jake sat among the men, cheering, as the teams huddled during the time-out. He realized his collar was damp with perspiration. The men around him were yelling, the cares of their day in the steel factory clearly not on their minds.

      The teams came back on the court. The Celtics were adjusting to the Rens’ defense, and the score had been close the entire half with neither team leading by more than four points.

      Douglas signaled a play he had the Rens work on during practices involving Jenkins coming all the way down the key and setting a screen for forward Smith. In turn, Smith came off the screen and took a set shot.

      The final play of the half had the Celtics’ Lapchick setting a screen on the right side of the court for Beckman. He dribbled nonstop down the baseline and hit a nice layup as the buzzer sounded.

      The score was the Rens 16 and the Celtics 14. On their way to the locker room, the Rens could hear the fans yelling obscenities. They had heard them so many times the players paid no attention. Referring to obnoxious fans, Douglas always told the Rens, “Just ignore them.”

      In the locker room, the Celtics were receiving instructions from coach John Witty. He was telling them they needed to set better screens for the players breaking to the basket. He also said they needed to be tougher on defense.

      The buzzer sounded, ending the time in the locker room. The Rens were cautious walking between the narrow bleachers toward the court, and they made it without getting hit by anything. A few of the fans shouted obscenities as usual. It was tough playing, but Douglas was good at keeping their focus on the game.

      The referees signaled the players in for the start of the second half. The Rens substituted John Holt

      and James Ricks for Clarence Jenkins and Eyre Saitch. The Celtics substituted Chris Leonard for Davey Banks.

      Joe Lapchick took control of the center jump and slapped the ball to George Haggerty. He took a couple of dribbles and then passed to Lapchick, who was guarded closely by Charles Cooper. So, Lapchick passed the ball back out to John Beckman. He then passed to Nat Holman who took it in for a layup.

      The referee called both teams to the center of the court for the jump off. Lapchick outjumped Cooper and tapped the ball to Holman. He got trapped by two defenders but managed a high arching pass to Dutch Dehnert. At 6’8”, Lapchick was hard to stop even with a good defender like Cooper on him. Lapchick faked a shot and then dribbled around Cooper for a layup. There weren’t many players in the league who could stop Lapchick once he had made up his mind to go to the basket – he had speed, agility, and force.

      Cooper got the next tipoff and tapped it to Ricks who started dribbling down the sideline when he heard Douglas yelling for a СКАЧАТЬ